Building and Sustaining Career Pathways Through Tough Economic Times Ms. Debra Winter, Dr. Maria Castro, Mr. Pierre Gay, Dr. Ellen J. Pitrelli

What is Longwood’s Profile? Longwood educates almost 10,000 students in several towns in over 53 square miles, 40% of the students are from minority populations. Five of the seven sites in the district meet Title I requirements with over 44% of students eligible for free/reduced lunch. Limited resources are available to foster positive school changes.

What is important to the Longwood Community? The Longwood Community values providing all students with a highly rigorous academic program integrated with relevant career and technical education in a cost-saving manner. The Longwood Community values its ability to provide all students with comprehensive educational opportunities that will allow them to grow into adulthood with a career and the ability to support themselves. The Longwood Community values maintaining its facilities, infrastructure, equipment, and programs on a long-term basis.

What is a College-Career Pathway? A College-Career Pathway is defined by the National Center for College and Career Transitions (NC3T) as an educational program in school made up of a sequence of inter- connected academic and elective classes that helps students make a clear connection to college and career opportunities.

When does Career Education begin at Longwood? Longwood’s Career Education program begins in Kindergarten. Students K-12 are engaged in instructional activities that answer the essential questions from the NYS Career Development Occupational Studies (CDOS) Learning Standards. Career instruction for all 8th grade students is based on the NYS Family & Consumer Sciences Career Unit. Most 9th grade students take Freshman Seminar which follows the NYS Career & Financial Management curriculum.

What are some of Longwood’s College and Career Pathways? Automotive Technology LHS Courses—Transportation Systems, Auto I & II Articulation agreement with ESBOCES for Longwood’s seniors Internship with Toyota of Middle Island Post-secondary affiliation with SCCC Excelsior Program Law LHS Courses—Personal and Business Law, Commercial Law Articulation agreement with ESBOCES for seniors to enroll in Law Academy Internship with Brookhaven Town Law Department (Pending) Post-secondary affiliation with Farmingdale State U

What are some of Longwood’s College and Career Pathways? Cisco Academy (Computer Networking) LHS Courses-IT Essentials, Networking I and II Internships with Brookhaven National Lab (Pending) Post-Secondary Affiliation with Farmingdale State U Architectural Engineering LHS Courses—Design, Drawing, and Production, Principles of Engineering, Computer-Aided Design Post Secondary Affiliation with Farmingdale State U

What are some of Longwood’s College and Career Pathways? Computer Applications LHS Courses-Keyboarding I, Advanced Keyboarding, Introduction to MicroComputer Applications Post Secondary Affiliation with Farmingdale State U General Business LHS Courses—Sports Marketing, Principles of Marketing, College Accounting, Virtual Business Association with Other Districts—CTE TAC’s Virtual Business Network Post-Secondary Affiliation with Farmingdale State U

How are students selected for these pathways? NYS Graduation mandates requires a student to have 3.5 elective credits. Longwood offers different Career and Technical Education courses for students to explore the elective areas. Students self select which courses to take and pathways to follow.

How does a District set up Work-Based Learning Opportunities? Districts must apply for either a Career Exploration Internship Program (CEIP) or General Education Work Experience Program (GEWEP) from SED. Both programs provide worksite Career Exploration. CEIP is non-paid employment for students 14+. GEWEP is paid employment for students 16+. Students in both programs can earn credits towards graduation. Both programs required a Work-Based Learning (WBL) Coordinator who is CTE certified and possesses an additional extension.

How does a District set up Articulation Agreements? The post-secondary institution must approve: Instructional background of assigned teacher Curriculum being taught Textbook and other materials being used College representative may observe class instruction. Students will receive HS credit and may receive college credit for a price.

What is the role of the School/Business Advisory Board? There are many types of School/Business Advisory Boards. The type will dictate the level of involvement. Longwood’s School/Business Advisory Board serves as a bridge to the community. It identifies the employment needs of the community. Community businesses provide work-based learning opportunities for its students and professional development for its teachers. Local businesses are also a source for guest speakers for career exploration. A Board is a necessary partner in the creation of Career Pathways under the NY PIN guidelines.

How has Longwood’s involvement with NY PIN helped? Longwood worked closely with ESBOCES to apply to be a part of the NY Pathways Innovation Network (NY PIN). As a partner, we benefited in the following ways: Longwood educators received training in creating pathways from Hans Meeder, Director of the National Center for College and Career Transitions (NC3T). We connected with other NY PIN districts across NYS to benefit from their experiences creating Pathways. Longwood personnel visited the Nashville Career Academies funded through the NY PIN Initiative.

How does Longwood sustain what we value? Since Longwood values a comprehensive program of study for all students that include Career and Technical Education, funding must be shared. When financial cuts were needed, all budget codes were impacted not just CTE. All available grants are managed centrally to make sure they are used wisely. We utilize all outside funding: Perkins Grant Legislative Grants Community Donations

What are the challenges we face? Geographical location Limited industry resources Transportation Insurance liability Constraints Funding Staffing Scheduling Professional Development

Where is Longwood headed? Longwood will focus its resources on Monitoring development of Board of Regents new mandates regarding CTE Pathways. Creating Career Pathways that meet the needs of the community and its students Meeting NYS Graduation Requirements and the CDOS Credential for its Special Education students Introducing Industry-Standard Assessments into its Career and Technical Education offerings. Applying to SED to certify many of its CTE programs. Continuing to work with ESBOCES and the NY PIN initiative in the development of local pathways.

Questions???? Ms. Debra Winter, Assistant Superintendent for Community and Student Services debra.winter@longwoodcsd.org Dr. Maria Castro, HS Principal maria.castro@longwoodcsd.org Mr. Pierre Gay, Current Director of Technology pierre.gay@longwoodcsd.org Dr. Ellen J. Pitrelli, Retired Director of Technology ellen.pitrelli@longwoodcsd.org